Royal history and beauty at the Isle of Wight
Escape London with a scenic ferry to the Isle of Wight, where you’ll explore Osborne House, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s Italian-style summer retreat. Discover royal history, opulent rooms, and beautiful gardens offering stunning coastal views.
Introduction to the Isle of Wight Day Tour
From April to September our summer tours begin and one of our favourites is the Isle of Wight day tour. After the drive to Southampton Docks, early in the morning, we sail to the island.
This sailing is an hour long and a great way to cleanse your palette of the city stresses of London. Go up on deck, soak up the sun’s rays as you watch the enormous cruise liners set sail for exotic destinations, the leisure yachts dancing over the sea and the jet skis bouncing in the wake of the ferry.
Arrival at East Cowes and Initial Impression
When we dock at the port in East Cowes its only 5-minute drive up the hill to Osborne House and you can feel everyone getting into a relaxing holiday mode.
Historical Context of Tourism on the Isle of Wight
Tourism to the island started in the Victorian Era thanks to the invention of the railways, opening many parts of coast to the people from the towns and cities inland. The first car ferries to travel this route were converted old World War II landing craft and very basic. You could also take livestock and horses over too on these makeshift ferries, that then had to be hosed down before the next sailing.
Osborne House: A Royal Summer Residence
Victoria and Albert had Osborne House built as a summer residence for their young family of nine and it soon became their favourite place. The building of the house became a pet project for Prince Albert, and he modelled it on the fashionable Italian palazzo style so it has a light Mediterranean look.
Royal Life at Osborne House
Once built the family began spending the summer months there, with the court moving down from London with the Queen from May to August. One summer, Scottish inventor Alexander Graham Bell visited the Queen with his new contraption called the telephone. Victoria was amazed and delighted to discover she could now talk to London from the comfort of Osborne House.
Victoria: The “Grandmother of Europe”
In the house you will see photos of Victoria’s extended family as she was known as the Grandmother of Europe. Her nine children married into various European Royal families and so many Royal lines are descended from Grandma Victoria. These descendants ruled countries such as Spain, Norway, Denmark, Romania, Greece and various German principalities. World War I was fought between cousins King George V and Kaiser Wilhelm II, quite the family feud!
Inside Osborne House: The Ground Floor
When you visit you will first enter the house and walk along the Grand Corridor with Albert’s collection of marble statues. You will then make your way around the state rooms such as the dining room, billiard room and council room.
Inside Osborne House: The Private Family Rooms
Then you will head upstairs to the private family rooms where there are some interesting and quirky rooms. The Queen’s sitting room is an ornate and personal room with her writing desk, her piano and a lovely old spinning wheel. Next to this is the Horn Room, a small and cosy reading room with furniture made from deer antlers and it looks rather spectacular.
You will also see the bathrooms with a tub and a shower, indoor plumbing was one of the new inventions of the Victorian Era. A must have for all Royalty and aristocracy, echoing the purity of the Victorian morality. Previously, in the Georgian Era the aristocracy were famously unhygienic due to lack of plumbing. Despite all the glamourous dresses, jewels and wigs there was a popular suspicion that water spread disease so frequent bathing was out of fashion.
Isle of Wight Day Trip from London
From £109
Journey with us across land and sea! Tour the Isle of Wight. Explore the horizons with the Needles Chairlift. Visit Osborne House, home to past royalty and Stroll through Godshill Village.
Inside Osborne House: The Durbar Room
One of the last rooms you will come to is the Durbar Room which is quite unique and created at the end of Victoria’s Reign. By this point she was a widow and in 1877 had been made Empress of India, so she wanted a room in the house to reflect this. As you approach you will see paintings of Indian life and a portrait of Maharaja Duleep Singh who stayed at Osborne House.
Then wander through the room and see the ornate designs covering the walls and ceilings including a peacock and the image of Ganesh. The room was created by Lockwood Kipling and Bhai Ram Singh of the Lahore School of Art and is a fascinating finale to the house visit.
The Gardens and Views
After you have explored the house, you will come out onto a beautiful parterre or ornamental garden with flowers, fountains and statues plus a great view down towards the beach. In the distance you can see the Solent, the stretch of water you crossed earlier, with Portsmouth in the distance.
If you are a fast walker, you can take a walk down through the cork trees and meadows to the beach. Look out for the occasional shuttle buses that may speed you to the shore faster to see what was, Victoria and Albert’s private beach.
The Swiss Cottage
A short walk from the main house the very cute little Swiss Cottage that was again built by Prince Albert and very much a personal pet project. Albert wasn’t having any shirking from his kids, so he used this as a hands-on educational programme for them.
He had the boys help lay the foundation stones and created gardening plots for all the children. Here they grew flowers, fruit and vegetables and had to sell them at market rates as Albert wanted them to learn about commerce and trade.
Kirsten Neil
Kirsten manages the Anderson Tours’ Scheduled Day Tours bringing experience from her early days as a guide. Her familiarity and interest in the destinations stems from experience and a passion for history, sharpened by taking courses at Oxford University’s Department of Continuing Education. With summer on the horizon, Kirsten recommends the upcoming seasonal tours, such as Glastonbury & Cheddar Gorge, and the lovely quirky Stonehenge & Avebury day trip.
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